


Literary Abandon

by tinydooms



Category: The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Series
Genre: Courtship, Erotic Literature, F/M, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:49:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25977727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinydooms/pseuds/tinydooms
Summary: When he had first arrived in Egypt as a boy, someone had told Rick to always check between his sheets at night, in case a snake or a scorpion had sneaked into his bed during the day. It was advice that stuck with him, probably because it had scared the bejeesus out of him, not that he had ever found a creepy-crawly in his bed. He still shook out his sheets every night, gathering blanket and topsheet up in his hands and flapping them over the mattress. He never found anything in the bed in the guest bedroom assigned to him--until, one night, he did.
Relationships: Evy Carnahan O'Connell/Rick O'Connell
Comments: 16
Kudos: 48





	Literary Abandon

**Literary Abandon**

When he had first arrived in Egypt as a boy, someone had told Rick to always check between his sheets at night, in case a snake or a scorpion had sneaked into his bed during the day. It was advice that stuck with him, probably because it had scared the bejeesus out of him, not that he had ever found a creepy-crawly in his bed. A man was more likely to get bitten out on a dig or a desert expedition than in his own house, especially when that house was Evie and Jonathan’s Zamalek home and probably the nicest place Rick had ever lived. Everything about this house whispered of money: the tiled floors, the central courtyard with its fountain, the excellent plumbing and steady electricity. But it was a home first and foremost, the furniture just a little bit shabby, the carpets just a little bit worn, every surface cluttered with books and artifacts and family pictures. It was noisy, too; Evie and Jonathan were not quiet people, always laughing and talking and slamming doors. It was, Rick always thought in some wonderment, everything he had ever wanted. 

He still shook out his sheets every night, though, gathering blanket and topsheet up in his hands and flapping them over the mattress. He never found anything in the bed in the guest bedroom assigned to him--until, one night, he did. 

It was a book, tucked neatly under the lip of the blanket against his pillows. Rick settled the bedding and folded it back, sat down and reached for the book, intrigued. Usually when Evie wanted him to read something, she just handed it to him. This book was medium-sized, thick but not hefty, bound in dark red cloth. There was no title printed on the cover or spine. Rick opened it. He boggled. 

It was a French translation of an erotic manual, printed in elegant typeface and with _very_ detailed illustrations.

“Uh,” Rick said aloud, looking around the room. He was alone, the door to the hallway ajar; there was no one around. And yet he knew who had left the book--it didn’t take any guess work, considering there were pieces of paper marking different pages, each with a note written in Evie’s neat script. 

“Yes,” said some notes, simply, tucked between the pages of an illustration and its accompanying explanation. 

“ ** _No_** ,” said others, and, 

“Perhaps, but I really don’t see how this is pleasurable,” said some. 

Rick thumbed through the pages, incredulity giving way to amusement. Had this book come from the collection at Evie’s library? It must have; he was pretty certain it was banned to everyone but scholars. Lucky he read French, really, though ultimately unnecessary in this case: the illustrations rendered the words superfluous. So Evie wanted to try _that_ , huh? That was exciting. But she wasn’t going to try _that_. Okay. Rick didn’t like that either. He turned the pages, grinning to himself, reading the notes his fiancee had left for him, _yeses_ and _noes_ and _maybes_. Saucy girl, that Evelyn. He flipped back towards the front, to the ones he had missed initially. She had left him a proper message there. 

_My dear,_

_I hope you don’t think this is disgustingly forward of me, but I think by now you realize that I like to do a bit of research before trying out something new. I assume that you have more practical experience in this area than I do (I hope you don’t mind me saying that) but I found this book quite enlightening and thought you might like to know in advance my interests. Don’t tell anyone. (I know you won’t; I can’t imagine why I wrote that.)_

_Your loving Evie_

Rick sat back on the bed and laughed helplessly, smothering his cackles in both hands. Oh, Evie, blessed, sweet, darling Evie. He tossed the book down and got up, walked down the hall towards her room. She wasn’t there, though her light was on. Rick could hear water running in the bath next door and grinned, shaking his head. He needed a shower himself after imagining doing all of that with her. He looked around; there was a box of writing paper on her table. He helped himself to a sheet and found a pen. 

_Evie honey,_

_You are hardly_ \--he paused, how to put this-- _“disgustingly forward”, as you put it. You are, in fact, the love of my life and the best thing that ever happened to me._ (Rick hesitated, tapping the pen against his mouth) _Yes, I have practical experience but not anything like some of those pictures, so I guess we’ll try them together._ (A new thought struck him.) _Also, does “no” mean I won’t do it to you or you won’t do it to me or we won’t do it together? Whatever answer you choose is fine; I just want to clarify._

 _Damn it, lady, I was already looking forward to marrying you! You can’t spring that kind of literature on a guy with three weeks to go!_ (Stop while you’re ahead, O’Connell.)

_I love you, Madame Librarian_

_Rick._

He settled the paper against Evie’s pillow just under the blanket, like she had put the book, and slipped back to his room. He had homework to do. 

Author's Note: this was a prompt on Tumblr for Rick/Evie with "pen and paper". I don't always get to choose what the characters are going to do! Oh, Evie.

If you want to leave me a fic prompt or request, feel free to [pop over to Tumblr](https://tinydooms.tumblr.com/ask) and do so! I love hearing from you guys. :-)


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